State Rep. Paul Curtman, R-Pacific, mistakenly blasted the wrong congresswoman during a speech at a recent Lincoln Day Republican banquet.

In his March 14 speech, Curtman lambasted U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., saying she “knows nothing about the Constitution, knows nothing about liberty.”

The Missourian contacted Curtman this week to see if he had actually intended for his remarks to be directed at U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas.

Curtman said he had indeed intended for his comments to be directed at Congresswoman Jackson Lee.

Congresswoman Jackson Lee recently made a speech in which she said, “we have lasted some 400 years operating under a Constitution that clearly defines what is constitutional and what is not.”

The Constitution was signed in 1787, making it about 227 years old.

In his speech, Curtman said, “Maxine Waters the other day, probably some of you know this, here she is talking about the Constitution, and she says it’s the greatest Democrat document that’s ever been devised by man — it’s governed us for over 400 years.”

Curtman added in the speech, “I would say that our Founding Fathers probably had her in mind when James Madison alluded to the fact that we need to elect people that have some degree of education.”

Curtman said it was just a matter of accidentally saying the wrong name. He said he realized shortly after his speech that he had mistakenly said Waters’ name instead of Congresswoman Jackson Lee.